Please contact us about any paintings or giclee prints of interest to you:

e-mail: Philsteelartist@gmail.com Tel: 772 465-8322

Welcome to the official site of artist Philip S Steel. Philip is a past signature member of the American Society of Marine Artist,(A.S.M.A) and Florida Watercolor Society, and a Fellow Member of the American Artist Professional League. He is published in Marquis Who's Who in American Art.

Many times I meet people either in my classes, workshops, museum shows or at my Salty Dog Gallery in Southwest Harbor, Maine, who ask me why I like to paint people, boats, the shore and the sea.

I think my first love affair with the sea began when I was 10, at summer camp on The Chesapeake Bay. The camp owned 7 small dories and made them available to us young campers. Early one morning the waterfront instructor arranged a day trip across the bay. With a crew of 2 on each boat, our little fleet set off with a good breeze and clear skies. By noon a horrific storm came up the bay. A number of the crews were frightened out of their wits as the storm plummeted our little dories. Luckily, we all survived. But for me it was an unforgettable exhilarating experience, the beginning of a lifetime love of the sea's power, a boat's ability, and the visible reaction of people on and about the waterways of the world.

Another question often asked is "why I paint". I think the desire to paint is in my genes. My parents and grandparents were artists and musicians. When I was a boy, I couldn't stop drawing and sketching...and I've never stopped.

Teaching I find particularly rewarding when a student finds his/her work suddenly improving. There is nothing more exciting then when their peers begin to admire their work after dedicated hours of practice and study.

I've inherited the wanderlust from my maternal grandfather. So, either through sailing in Maine, the Chesapeake Bay, Florida or the Caribbean Basin, or traveling to a foreign county, I am always energized when I meet people whose lives are affected by the sea. It is these people, their lifestyles, their water craft and their surroundings that I am compelled to capture.

Thank-you for visiting this web site...

Several years ago Phil was sketching on the docks of the only remaining fish house in Fort Pierce, Florida. He was angrily approached by the owner of the facility who thought Phil was with the Florida Fish and Wildlife. Although the banning of certain types of net fishing in Florida had taken place several years earlier, Phil learned of the staggering affect the ban had on generations of fishing families. The frustration felt by these fishermen fairly roiled just below the surface of their feelings. The result of this encounter added a new dimension to Phil's art He was determined to capture the lives of the commercial fishermen. Philip and writer Evelyn Wilde Mayerson formed a ground breaking partnership to document the fascinating history of Florida's Commercial coastal fishermen. The result ,"Net Loss",gave a voice to those who had virtually given up on ever having a public forum to express their sense of loss and helplessness. "Net Loss" was performed across the entire State of Florida as a unique combination of a one man monodrama and a traveling art exhibit. "Net Loss" also focused on a larger issue, the issue of art as a social commentator.

Next, Phil and author Roger Vaughn completed a book and play entitled " Fishing Gone"about the water men of Tangier Island in the Chesapeake Bay.

They captured the uniqueness of this Island and the challenges facing the water men who have been there for more then three hundred years. The Tangier History Museum & Interpretive Cultural Center sponsored this second phase of art as a social commentator. The play showed at ten locations around the Chesapeake Bay, including The Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC.

Author/playwright, Eva Murray teamed up with Phil to not only produce a play titled " On the Edge", but also to make a television production. Television producer Jeff Dobbs vidio televised On the Edge in Northeast Harbor, Maine. The televised documentary " On the Edge " has been shown on Maine Public Television 4 times in 2014, and is being proposed for a regional Emmy Award.

Phil's dream is to produce all three plays as a documentary for regional and National Public Television. Presently the made for television documentary proposed title is "Voices from the Sea ".

The means needed to facilitate the project required a non-profit sponsor. The Jefferson Davis Grant Foundation is our sponsor.

The main purpose of this production is to inform the general public about the disappearance of our fishing villages as the small farms disappeared the previous century.

"What a treat, this program of "Net Loss"!
I have seen many great works of Art in my life, here in this country as well as Europe and Britain; Phil Steel is an incredible talent. He has truly captured the essence of life in the fishing world; you could almost smell the salt air as you took in his paintings. I wanted to have each of them for myself. It won't be long before he rockets to stardom. . . ."
NET LOSS REVIEW by Edgar Straeffer, Chairman, Cultural Affairs Council, St. Lucie Co. Fl.

"When the house lights go down in the Black box Theater, on Indian River community College's Fort Pierce campus, Philip Steel's paintings jump to life. Twelve paintings portraying fishermen and their work are the set for a one character performance about the powerful effects the net ban caused on Florida's commercial fishermen and their families. . . .

Rarely does the set of a play express the situations and emotions of a script. Steel's large paintings show fishermen in their every day work environment, one painting at a time. An intimate bar scene of fishermen swapping stories on a bad weather day seems to give way to a large, stormy seascape, with a lone commercial fishing boat slicing through the seas. Each painting could stand alone for its vibrant composition and affectionate subject matter. Together they offer vista of the robust routine of making a living from the coastal and offshore waters that make Florida a peninsula. . ."

"Net Loss" is a dramatic production that debates different perspectives of commercial fishing. This amazing program has captured the imagination, eyes, mind and critical discussion of its viewers. This pictorial essay brings together a playwright, an artist, an actor and the audience. It explores the feelings of a seventh generation Florida commercial fishing family as it examines the dilemma of survival. You will travel on their fishing boats, listen to their comments, and experience a sociological and historical statement being made. . The tour includes 12 original oil paintings by artist Phil Steel, a dramatization of a fictitious fishing history by playwright Evelyn Mayerson, and is brought together on stage by 30 year veteran actor Joel Kolker. . . . "

IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT.... Larry S. Chowning, Southside Sentinal

An entire culture may be lost forever: by Larry S. Chowning, Southside Sentinal, Oct. 1, 2009
This wonderful play is much more far reaching than the Chesapeake Bay. It brings out a nationwide dilemma that commercial fishing cultures through the entire United States are facing hard times. The essence of the play is about the realty of an entire culture being lost forever.

2011: Phil's painting, "The Race", a watercolor by Phil, has been chosen by the National Leukemia & Lymphoma Society for their 2011 poster and public relations material for all their races across the country.